Wednesday, March 25, 2009

When most people read romances, they are reminded of the more romantic times; When I read a romance, I am reminded of the more romantic plagues, including both the influenzas and STDs (now renamed STI's, I just found out) of the current and the bubonic infections and blood curdling turburculosis of yesteryear.

It always starts with the first page. The heroine moves from her old school where she was lonely and unpopular, she's bored in her castle, or what have you, and my mind invents what could be...and its always science fiction. I beg for science fiction. I only keep reading because someone said something about knife fights and lasers and vampires and I know that somewhere in this book is science fiction.

I'm always wrong. Because science fiction is buried under layers and layers of unnecessary kiss scenes. I notice that the passages for knife fights and lasers and vampires are pretty short next to the unnecessary scenes where they stare awkwardly at eachothers muscles and lips and describe, in depth, how the delts wrap sinuously around the biceps. For instance, boil Twilight down to the bare sci fi necessity and its about five pages long and actually has nothing to do with vampires and has more to do with reject X-man Mutants with the special ability Marvel threw in the trash--along with the ability to read minds but only use it to gossip about Jacobs girly love life. (FREAK-NOT-REALLY-A-SPOILER SPOILER)

So don't take it lightly when I say I found a few Romance Novels that I absolutely loved and recommend to anyone into that sort of thing and not into that sort of thing.

Its not for the passion inherent in the book, because that apparently goes right over my head in literature and Robert Pattison and the Cyclops X-man who just happened to star in the Notebook (and didn't play a Vampire. I think.)

It all started when I had to take an advanced writing class, and the only one open was all about Persuasion by Jane Austen.

At first I was perturbed. But then I got over it because I thought it would be a great chance to write my mind about the position of women and how we're degraded by most romances, but I found out just the opposite. It's a fascinating story about finding love when no one else thinks you can have it. Unlike most Romance novel heroines, the main character has to work it to get what she wants, and as she does it's a marvelous social commentary on women and their interaction with men.

It takes some knowing about that time period to love the book, but now that I do I can see all of the work that Jane Austen managed to fit into such a short volume. Yeah the book really is entirely about marriage, but asking the big more mature question: is it better to marry when you first love him, or to wait until he makes his fortune and still loves you and therefore won't leave you in a hole when he gets bored? The question is never really answered, but the book gets to the point and while the more sinister characters are almost annoying, they've got a funny side to them that Pride and Prejudice lacked.

So after Persuasion I found a kinda-sorta classic, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. At first I was appalled by how much language she uses to talk about the flora and fauna, but by skipping a few pages I was pleasantly surprised on how she handled the romance. I was expecting an overblown passage of staring into eachother's eyes (may I never read that phrase in print ever again) and blissfully retelling their first meeting over, and over, and over, and over, but instead it was shockingly accurate. The main girl is about 19, marries a 30 year old with a past, and it starts off this creepy story of this twisted love where you aren't really sure if he loves her and visa versa. It's what, in my mind, Twilight, should have been and I found myself sucked into it even though the front cover consisted of deep red drapery and a sweeping gold font.

I only picked up the book because I started reading it at Mom's house and it was leatherbound and had no jacket. If I knew it had this all over it...

...but the ending--I won't say anything to ruin it for you but this is all sorts of good book for the Romance haters in the room.

I think I like these books for the same reason I loved Memoirs of a Geisha, because it was really about women instead of being about Romances. Seeing how Woman are treated in literature has always been an interesting thing to me, especially since to talk about us apparently requires a lot of talk about love. Yet these books happen to stick a very interesting feminism vs feminine voice that shows woman as they are at the time they were written.

I love stories about that because honestly, the lives of women are far from perfect, and so any books about us--especailly those romances--need to declare it. It is an exciting time because we can talk about those things and because we do live at a crossroads, where the world and our culture and who we are tell us so many different things about who we should be when we can only be one thing. It's such a hard thing to describe how we stretch ourselves that when I find it has been done well it is absolutely beautiful and I have to recommend it.

Monday, March 23, 2009

In my persuit to make this Nearly Daily, I decided to start doing more quick 15-30 minute studies on Painter. Again, they're just quick studies because I feel no desire to learn to finish anything on Painter. Realistically I'd print it out and finish it traditionally.

Yousee, I normally don't go for painter-type images because they look too smooth. So I've been trying to find the brushes that work for me and make me feel...whats the word...satisfied. Because doing things super smooth requires sooo much work so that it looks like its legit. But when things are rough you can sort of play around and its excused, I think. But I don't think I've figured out how to recreate texture the way I like it. I'll figure it out with all these studies, I guess.

Friday, March 20, 2009

So here's something from a personal project I've been working on, about the life and times of me. I think I can make into an out of class assignment for Greg's class, Since it is a self portrait and all. Its not all done yet; I need it to look more like a woodcut. The final image will be printed on a scantron sheet, so as to describe one of the pivital moments of my life, about three years ago, after I slaved away on homework for about 15 odd years and someone told me "Ya no one's going to look at your GPA ever again" and my brain exploded.

I still don't believe them.

Things I like: its not acrylicThings I don't like: how I set up "Times" and forgot the dash after the "E" in "Some" and the sloppy hair and the mysterious right hand. And how that line goes off the side to the left. I didn't realize it did that.

I also realize that it is a lot like the design on the cover of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with the words in the hand. But I assume that he got that idea from someone else long before him.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

So today I seriously considered going to New York and doing that Illustration Academy thing. I thought to myself that 7 weeks with the best in the country for only about 5 grand seemed pretty good. And then I added the cost of living and the cost of flying across the country and the cost of shipping all of my art stuff across the country and the cost of 7 straight weeks of intense assignments without even weekends for a break so I can go to Church and then I went on Epson.com.

And then I went to Nikonusa.com

and then I realized I could make my dream studio for less than the cost of one semester of tuition at that academy for a Californian with no contacts in New York.

The end.

Maybe another year when I'm not just graduated from school and really tired of school. Really, really tired of school.

So here's some more art that I've been doing. I am getting closer to the finish on that first of my BFA things. I took a ref pic with my camera, my 4 meg camera that is a piece of toast. I'm getting a new camera eventually. Instead of a very expensive program.

I promise that the colors and contrast are better in real life. Although it isn't finished yet, so I shouldn't defend it.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

So my Brother and his Wife wanted me to take some of my sketchbook stuff and color it in for their kid's room. I went through my old sketchbooks books, expecting a lot more fairies and dragons than there actually were, but found some animals that I felt like posting

So I think I'll find the ones from this that are more 'cute' since the girls are younger than 5...I think the boy might like the tigers.

Other than that, I found this link through David Farlands 'kick in the pants' on how to outline a novel in an hour. It's an interesting excercise because it makes you really get to the piont, which is something I forget about because I love to draw out a character and really get to know it. Which is a problem in children's books because they are how many words? Oh yeah--maaaybe up to a paragraph a page. Anyways, while this is probably not helpful for most K-3 books, when you get to the novelettes, I can see this coming in handy.

I'm planning to put my Zshiki story in a novelette, I just have to um...narrow that honey down. And then stop lamenting the fact that it will be black and white spots instead of full color illustrations. Man, I wish I could fit that story into a picture book...but there's just no way. Well there is a way...there's just no content once its done and I am not satisfied.

but try this because its sort of fun.http://www.yorkwriters.com/2009/02/sketch-novel-in-hour-exercise.html

Monday, March 2, 2009

So they're installing this new gigantor Epson down in the print lab, right during the time that I wanted to print off some things. I could probably still print but meh--when there's so many people in there I just can't handle it, so instead I'll update my blog.

Here's what I'm planning to do for the BFA--be aware that I only left the type there so you'd know what's going on. It's really bare-bones story and it isn't going to be left that way because there's no rythm or feeling to it.

This is the opener about Tycho Brahe, who really did chop off his nose because one of his peers in school said that he was wrong about an astrology prediction that a prince would die from influenza.

This introduces Johanne Keplar, who was a math teacher so bad only about 6 of his students attended because he was so boring. I use this example as what could happen if I'm ever forced to teach art for a living

a moody sort of image. I was thinking of making the back shadow look like Tycho Brahe. Who is dead in this scene.

and this, too. So I'm thinking of doing this line and washy. It could be a fun transition from what I have been doing which just...doesn't click. We'll see if I can get things to click with thinner acrylic.

So they're installing this new gigantor Epson down in the print lab, right during the time that I wanted to print off some things. I could probably still print but meh--when there's so many people in there I just can't handle it, so instead I'll update my blog.

Here's what I'm planning to do for the BFA--be aware that I only left the type there so you'd know what's going on. It's really bare-bones story and it isn't going to be left that way because there's no rythm or feeling to it.

This is the opener about Tycho Brahe, who really did chop off his nose because one of his peers in school said that he was wrong about an astrology prediction that a prince would die from influenza.

This introduces Johanne Keplar, who was a math teacher so bad only about 6 of his students attended because he was so boring. I use this example as what could happen if I'm ever forced to teach art for a living

a moody sort of image. I was thinking of making the back shadow look like Tycho Brahe. Who is dead in this scene.

and this, too. So I'm thinking of doing this line and washy. It could be a fun transition from what I have been doing which just...doesn't click. We'll see if I can get things to click with thinner acrylic.